Column of Honor: 12.13.08: Part One: You Gotta Have Character

Posted by Ari Berenstein on 12.13.2008

Wait…you mean there are gimmicks in wrestling? Why ROH needs wrestlers like Mitch Franklin to become Grizzly Redwood and why it’s actually a good thing that the undercard is becoming like the USA network—we’ve got character.

Welcome to the Column. Elevate your leg and pull up a chair and let's get to it.



Ring Toss
- ROH Results: Nashville, TN, December 6th, 2008
-You Gotta Have Character
-ROH Call
-ROH News
-My Fave Five
-"Classic" Promos Month II: Week Three
-Honorarium
-Ringtones
-Independent Buy In
-Get with the pROHgram
-ROH @ 411
-Honor Bound Links

ROH Results: ROH's first show in Nashville, TN, December 6th, 2008

Matches
Pre-Show

- Ninja Blue defeated Shawn Shultz via pinfall with a sunset flip.

- Boogie Woogie Boy Gary Valiant defeated Ernie Osiris via pinfall with a Cutter out of the corner.


Main Show

-The team of The Briscoes & Kenny Omega defeated Kenny King, Sal Rinauro & Rhett Titus via pinfall. Omega over Rinauro with his variation of the release German Suplex.
-Delirious defeated Alex "Sugarfoot" Payne via pinfall with Shadows Over Hell.
-Sara Del Rey defeated Ashley Lane, Daizee Haze & Serena Deeb in a Four Corner Survival match. Del Rey pinned Lane with The Royal Butterfly.
-The team of Brent Albright & Erick Stevens defeated Sweet & Sour Inc. of Davey Richards & Larry Sweeney via pinfall. Albright pinned Richards after Sweeney inadvertently nails Richards with the chair with a chair and Albright gets the pin.
-The team of Grizzly Redwood & Bushwhacker Luke defeated Irish Airborne (gasp!) via pinfall using the battering ram.
-The team of The Necro Butcher & Austin Aries fought the team of The Age of the Fall of Jimmy Jacobs & Tyler Black to a double count out.
-"American Dragon" Bryan Danielson defeated Claudio Castagnoli in a no disqualification match via submission using a triangle choke with the assistance of a belt wrapped around Claudio's throat.
-ROH World Champion Nigel McGuinness successfully retained his title by defeating challenger Jerry Lynn via pinfall holding the ropes after reversing the Cradle Piledriver.


Issues & Angles
-Daizee Haze is able to force Rhett Titus into confessing that they never slept together. Necro Butcher helps Daizee out and together they make tell the truth, that he is actually a virgin. Haze kicks Titus in the balls as insult to injury, or injury to insult, whichever that may be…

-The team of Sweet & Sour Inc. that was supposed to fight Stevens and Albright was going to be Davey Richards and Bobby Dempsey (ala the previous night in St. Louis) but Sweeney kicked Dempsey off and replaced him with himself. Apparently Sweeney and Richards had some harsh words with each other after the match, but have since made up.

-Fans will remember that Danielson using the belt was actually a page taken out of the Samoa Joe vs. Bryan Danielson match from Irresistible Forces from back in late 2006.

-No return date has been announced for the Nashville TN area. Fan attendance was said to be around 600 (average for an ROH crowd), but they were in a very large University gymnasium which could have held upwards of 10,000 (they blocked off half of it in the set up).


You Gotta Have Character

It was only a matter of time before the momentum turned.

Six weeks after Ring of Honor began its new character-based direction, with new focus on some of the lower card wrestlers (mostly the former ROH students) being featured in more light-hearted vignettes. Six weeks since we've transformed Ernie Osiris from plain Ernie Osiris to "Dirty" Ernie Osiris, the panhandling bum, from Kyle Durden who was jobber fodder into Kyle Durden the snappy dressed new interviewer, from Shane Hagadorn, the annoying manservant to Shane Hagadorn the depressed, verging-on-breakdown manservant, and so on. More than that time since Mitch Franklin became "The Littlest Lumberjack" Grizzly Redwood and far more than that since "Rhett Titus" found the right catchphrase and became "Addicted to Love."

These new changes and new attention to character detail have given these wrestlers, some of whom have had very little opportunity to get over with the ever-critical and super picky ROH crowd, a new lease on wrestling life in the independent circuit.

For six weeks, on response threads to the Youtube videos and on the ROH message boards, there has been a majority of approval for these changes. Fans have been entertained and have enjoyed these presentations…well, mostly. I mean, well, who can really genuinely say that they didn't turn away in disgust at some of those "Rhett Titus gets his groove back" videos? Not I—I was heading for a dry-heave fit into a brown paper bag. Unfortunately, some of these changes have not been so well received…with some respondents claiming that if this is the "New" Ring of Honor that new booker Adam Pearce will bring to them, that they are not interested.

The criticisms have actually picked up this week, with 411's latest Buy or Sell column featuring two columnists who believe that the Rhett Titus gimmick has been a complete failure. Alex Mattis writes "This has been one of the few angles that ROH has ever put forth that I absolutely detest. This, to me, is just a spin off of the classic Rick Rude-Jake Roberts feud except this one is doing as much for the people involved as the other did."

Matt Short seems to like the idea of the lower card wrestlers getting gimmick makeovers, but believes that Titus is not working well as a character: " I've been saying for months that ROH needed to do something with their students to give them personalities so the fans have a reason to care about them. They can't be jobbers their entire careers. It's been working too, just look at Grizzly Redwood. "Addicted to Love" Rhett Titus on the other hand has not been working out so well. I don't know what it is, but this angle has just not worked and I think it's because the fans are torn over it. They wanted to see Delirious and Haze together and completely stomp Titus out of the equation. Then Delirious turned heel and it became a whole lot less clear who you were supposed to root for. If they want this to work, Titus has to get better at working his gimmick. I'm putting it on him to make the gimmick work, because it ultimately is up to him."

Christopher Freda over at The Cool Kids Table also spends his column criticizing the movement to give the ROH students characters that are more "gimmick" than extensions of their own personalities: "I am all for trying to give the graduates a personality and a reason to care about them. But quite frankly I could give a crap about a midget lumberjack or panhandling bum. Every wrestler has a hook a gimmick or a shtick of some sort. But these over the top embarrassing gimmicks were supposed to be gone with the 80s."

Frieda goes on to write: "And I realize that before they were just the students that nobody cared about. I also realize that with some more effort they could have tried to come up with angles that would make people give a crap about them. Or had them start tagging with more established mid-carders to raise their profiles. Or, they could have tried to help them develop a real persona. Instead of half assing it and coming up with cheap ass wannabe 80s cheese ball gimmicks which what they've done."

Freda and Mattis have very sharp words for this movement towards "gimmick" characters, meanwhile Short takes the middle of the road. Freda and Short note that the students need something more, but Freda in particular does not like what that something more has turned out to be.

On the other hand, I am thoroughly enjoying the new characters. I think ROH is doing the absolute right thing by giving wrestlers like Mitch Franklin and Rhett Titus defined characters or even—gasp!—gimmicks! It's about time these wrestlers moved on from the career-stalling tag of "ROH student" (such as it has become due to a number of factors including fan response to that idea.

Now, I've always loved the focus of Ring of Honor being on the in-ring action…but I've also advocated for ROH to lighten up a bit, get some comedy going on the undercard, some fun characters that can re-energize the "world" of the promotion. I am sincerely happy that ROH is doing just that. I am also unafraid that ROH will somehow soon become 1980's WWE or even worse, 1995 WWE. The plain fact of wrestling is that you gotta have characters.

Make no mistake, I like when wrestlers are extensions of themselves, but sometimes, that is not enough to interest the fans. Sometimes gimmicks are necessary because the wrestlers themselves perform better when they "role play". I don't think Rhett Titus is really a playboy to the over the top level he portrays in ROH, but I certainly think he does a great job portraying one. Hey, the old saying goes, "I'm not a doctor, but I play one on TV." Isn't it better for wrestlers to embrace gimmicks and play certain roles in the promotion, finding their niche and gaining more experience in the wrestling world due to the added attention given from these roles? So far, everyone seems to have really embraced their character changes and maximized the potential of these gimmicks. I mean, it takes true dedication to live up Rhett Titus's gimmick. You have to be out there, fearless and determined to sell that character to wrestling AND non-wrestling fans like what he has done.

Rhett Titus's portrayal of his "Addicted to Love" character is heavily influenced by both Rick Rude and Stevie Richards—and yet, who in professional wrestling has not been influenced by other wrestlers? Bryan Danielson is the best of Bob Backlund and William Regal put together. Christopher Daniels' "Fallen Angel" has shades of Kevin Sullivan cult leader character. Why are modern fans, especially on the internet, so unrelenting in their refusal to understand that the best in their craft take the best or most applicable material from the past and put their own spin on it? In wrestling, everything old is new again.

There is absolutely nothing wrong with Rhett Titus's character and his interplay with both Daizee Haze and Delirious. In fact, Titus's smarmy attitude provided some of the most enjoyable moments of antagonism over the summer, as he wormed his way around and into Daizee Haze' life. At Death Before Dishonor VI, the New York crowd delighted in his use of the Rick Rude "painted tights" gimmick. Maybe that's more of an indictment on the NYC crowd, but I think more likely was that it was a genuine moment of entertainment that made the crowd drunk with giddiness. How about that? A "gimmick" character actually was able to entertain a group of hardcore ROH fans. And he isn't even half bad in the ring.

Honestly, some of Titus' vignettes have been over the top for my liking, with the vignette where he got with the sorority and the one where we caught him making out to a pillow with Haze's underwear being just drawing the line. That's my sense of taste though, and not a criticism of the use of the gimmick. Quite frankly, I'm impressed at Titus's dedication to the gimmick. It's that pursuit of "Being Addicted to Love" that has made women fans in attendance increasingly receptive to his advances (including giving women "copies" of his "hotel room card key") as well as put him in strong contention to make the "Daisy of Love" reality show. Hey, that may not be my cup of tea or yours, but the most important thing is that he can use that show the same way all the other reality show contestants use those shows, to springboard his career and his name brand even further. Do you think "Rhettski the Jetski" could pull off that kind of success without the heart shaped specks and the "Thrust is a Must" catchphrase? Not hardly.

On the last show, Titus admitted to the fans that he hadn't slept with Haze at all, in fact—he was a virgin. This was a masterstroke of wrestling booking, not the bullet that will kill the Titus character as some fear. First of all, the storyline of the fractured friendship between Haze and Delirious had to be resolved. The plot called for Haze to "save" Delirious from the evil manipulations of Jimmy Jacobs and The Age of the Fall. To do that, she had to prove that she never slept with Titus. Not only did she want vindication, but she wanted payback for all of the pain and suffering Titus had caused her and Delirious. She got just that last week, with the public embarrassment of Titus. Now Haze can use that confession to confront Delirious with the truth of the matter, and hopefully, just hopefully, bring Delirious back to the side of good. Considering that The Age of the Fall may be splintering apart soon, it may have been that Delirious was never long for that group in the first place.

As for why some fans criticize this love triangle as soap opera? It may have to do with the underbelly of misogyny and resentment of women embedded within the world of wrestling. Or it could be that some fans just don't buy into Daizee Haze and her ability to portray the spurned and victimized woman (and yes, her acting skills just don't measure up to some of the other women in wrestling's past history of love triangles, be it Miss Elizabeth or Trish Stratus or even Lacey, although those are some tough comparisons to make). Haze's initial rejection of Delirious turned fans against Haze and she could never get the fans to sympathize with her after that. Yet, I've always felt that was silly, considering the plotline needed for her to reject Delirious to even get to where we are in the story right now. Did fans really expect a happy ending to happen without any drama or tragedy? This is professional wrestling for god sakes! You don't have a love triangle storyline in professional wrestling without some drama and tragedy. Don't tell me we shouldn't have love stories in ROH, because the fantastic Jimmy Jacobs-Lacey Saga would like to have a word with you.

Now with added attention to wrestlers like Rhett Titus, Grizzly Redwood (and even Alex "Sugarfoot" Payne, not portraying a "gimmick", is getting some added attention), we now have lower card wrestlers with characters or gimmicks that can be used well both in the ring and out of it. ROH wanted to balance out the card with shorter undercards and longer, more stand out main event attractions. While I can't say that I am happy to hear from reviews that the undercard has become less action-oriented from an in-ring standpoint, I don't believe that is due to any change in how some of the ROH wrestlers have been booked as "gimmick" characters. Ernie Osiris hasn't been wrestling on the main shows and the undercard has featured all of the regular ROH wrestlers, from Davey Richards to Delirious to Tyler Black, Bryan Danielson and Austin Aries. It has been the placement on the undercard that has dictated the general quality of the matches, not the characters that are involved within the matches themselves. For better or worse, the new ROH has become a place where unless you're attending a major "A" show, then you are not going to get a card that is "top to bottom" filled with three, four and four plus star matches. Fans have had a hard time with this and I think it had led or will lead to some of the newer characters becoming scapegoats for the lack of fans' ability to accept a change towards more overt characterization (focusing mostly on the comic thus far) in the promotion.

And let's think this through—not all of Ring of Honor's new additions are comedy acts. Kenny Omega may have comic aspects to his character, but he is being treated seriously in the booking and as an up and comer who is as talented in the ring as he is charismatic. He also has a rivalry brewing with Kenny King, who is getting more over with every appearance as the cocky young kid who has the clique and the mouth and the in-ring ability to back up every bit of his braggadocio. Brodie Lee was a smash mouth bully in his few appearances in October and November. There is no comedy in the enforcer character, but it is just that—a character that adds a new dimension to The Age of the Fall (not to mention ROH as a whole since no one besides Claudio Castagnoli is quite as big and tall as Lee). Jerry Lynn has been established in professional wrestling for years on end. As a relatively new returnee to Ring of Honor action, he was not "transformed" into a new gimmick, but rather generally kept as the character he played, or at least an updated variant of it. Or haven't you noticed that this isn't the "New F'N Show" Jerry Lynn, but rather the aged veteran Lynn, motivated by the youngsters and the desire to be ROH World Champion? It's a slight difference, but it's an important one nonetheless. It's a new characterization that brings something fresh to a wrestler many fans know about…and that new character along with what seems to be an ageless in ring performance has helped gain him easy and quick acceptance.

Again, that's the point—Jerry Lynn has long since found what works for him both in the ring and as a wrestling character, and he goes with it in different varying shades for whatever promotion for which he is booked. Guys like Mitch Franklin, Ernie Osiris and Rhett Titus have barely become prepubescent (figuratively speaking) in the wrestling world. They are still finding what works best for them as wrestling characters and keeping what works. A gimmick character for guys like Mitch Franklin and Ernie Osiris may be exactly what is called for at this point of their careers—especially for wrestlers who are still finding what works for them.

I'll have to be honest—there were times in previous years when I saw Mitch Franklin's name on the card and thought "oh great…why do I have to watch this guy?" Pelle Primeau was already doing the "small, plucky" babyface character and actually getting it over to a decent extent. I did not need nor want to see another variation of the character, much less with a wrestler whose physique was even smaller and far less impressive than even Pelle Primeau. Many fans felt the same way, because I can remember plenty of times watching live or via DVD that the fans booed or greeted Franklin's matches with general apathy. It's not really a knock on Franklin so much as an indication that the fans weren't buying what he was selling—the character and the in ring presentation was not something the fans wanted to see.

However, my opinion of Franklin changed when Franklin was transformed into Grizzly Redwood (and to be accurate, this was one of Sapolsky's last ideas and Pearce has decided to use him as a focus of the online video vignettes). Initially, I was skeptical…I mean, a lumberjack in Ring of Honor? What the heck? And yet, when the video clip of Grizzly Redwood was shown, with the fans live in attendance reacting and going crazy for the character—it showed me the potential of this gimmick. I became interested in seeing Franklin in the ring—but as "Grizzly Redwood", not as "Live to Win" Mitch Franklin. The funny thing is, Grizzly Redwood only does one or two moves, which would be variations of the axe handle. Franklin was doing plenty of more moves as his "Live to Win" character, but not garnering nearly half the reaction as Redwood. This underscores a fundamental fact that some ROH fans have a hard time dealing with—that sometimes, it's not always about the quality of moves or the athleticism displayed in the ring, but rather the presentation and the packaging of those moves within the context of a character that means the most.

I have been entertained to no end by Grizzly Redwood, including laughing my ass off for the skit where the littlest lumberjack goes out to the forest to cut down the littlest tree, the comes back and eats a breakfast of piping hot flapjacks. It was a perfect moment of characterization, nothing half assed about it. I sent that video to all of my friends who were into wrestling and featured it in this column. I would take that moment over any of his matches as Mitch Franklin. I would watch it over and over and over again and not feel guilty about it at all.

Or, putting it another way—when Mitch Franklin was just Mitch Franklin, I could have cared less whether or not he was booked on an ROH show—in fact I'd have loved it more if he up and disappeared and I didn't have to sit through one of his matches. Now, I actually want to see Mitch Franklin appear on Ring of Honor shows—as Grizzly Redwood—and perform. God forbid I and other fans would actually become willing to pay to see him appear! See, that's the best thing ROH can hope to have happen with this new initiative. If they can transform the students into characters the fans would actually pay to see wrestle, then they will have found another reserve of wrestling booking gold. They won't have to go on a cross-country or international search for the next big thing—they can actually use their students as drawing cards, as they wanted to oh so long ago but weren't really successful at doing until now.

One of the best by-products of these character changes is that these wrestlers are no longer known as "ROH students". Grizzly Redwood looks nothing like Mitch Franklin the ROH student. Shane Hagadorn graduated the school a long time ago and has played the manservant for so long that his service to Adam Pearce is how fans identify him. Bobby Dempsey isn't an ROH student, but Sweet & Sour's whipping boy. Pretty soon we'll see the fans forgetting that Kyle Durden was a jabronie and see that he has an interesting take on being an interviewer. We will hopefully do the same for Ernie Osiris and others who go through the same makeover process.

Yes, "Grizzly Redwood" is a gimmick. Franklin obviously doesn't go chopping trees for his hobby on his days off from wrestling—but then again, do you really think Jimmy Jacobs is in the middle of forming an anarchistic organization on his off nights? Or that Larry Sweeney is negotiating prices for his clientele? As usual, the reaction to the idea of "characters" in Ring of Honor by some of my fellow internet brethren has me baffled. Why criticize what ROH is doing now for wrestlers who sorely need the extra help when before when we had characters such as Delirious the talking man-lizard, El Generico the generic-luchadore and Jimmy Jacobs the anarchistic cult leader and not one of those three has taken nearly the same amount of heat for being "characters"? It the same sort of double-think that pisses me off about MMA fans who criticize Brock Lesnar fighting when he was a professional wrestler, when so many MMA fighters including Ken Shamrock, Dan Severn and Dan Henderson have been involved in professional wrestling!

As for the newer character changes that are being established, unfortunately we are still in a "wait and see" period. The character change to Ernie Osiris has been all of one or two videowires and some newsbits. He hasn't even gotten past the preshow in the last six weeks. The newswire has also finally identified the mustached man at ringside as Giuseppe diLorento, but other than giving the guy an Italian nickname and having a one-off and innocuous paragraph about how his belongings were stolen by Osiris, I don't see how this is something that would get anyone upset. In fact, I'm happy we finally know that guy's name. He's been sitting at ringside for over a year now and he totally stood out with that crazy mustache. I actually want to know more about this guy and what he is doing as a bell ringer for the company. And with that crazy mustache, why wouldn't he have an Italian nickname?

What we have seen as far as concrete evidence of the changes in ROH style hasn't been enough to determine where ROH will be going in 2009. There are obviously some positives to the last few months, with improved camera set up for Pay Per Views and likely major shows (that admittedly most ROH viewers haven't seen yet) and a move to use more new talent. On the other hand, there are a few changes that have been met with less than enthusiasm, such as the emphasis on shorter shows with a more "average" undercard and the tendency to use more "non-finishes" (which are actually finishes but just not finishes that ROH fans have been conditioned to expect or to like to see in their wrestling) such as count outs, disqualifications and run ins during (not after) matches. As a long time ROH fan, it is a bit worrisome to see the latter addition, but it has not turned me off to the product as yet.

I don't expect that with this new booking regime we will start seeing ALL of the wrestlers on the roster start becoming "gimmicks". I don't expect Bryan Danielson to change into a Buddhist Monk, or Austin Aries to start wearing Joker face paint and become a homicidal skulker. Adam Pearce and Cary Silkin have been long enough in this business to realize that a world of gimmicks will not do the entire promotion well. We're not going to have WWF circa 1995 with fifty "T.L. Hoppers". I do believe that we will have a healthy mix of old and new wrestlers, some of extensions of themselves, some as more of a "gimmick" than themselves. I'm fine with that, especially if that will help to begin to revitalize a promotion that everyone on the internet seems to criticize as in need of a face lift.

What it all comes down to is what is more interesting and entertaining to watch—and it's clear to see that the ROH students as "ROH students" is not nearly good enough to make fans interested in watching them. ROH has to give them something to do in their booking—upping their roles and the interaction they have with the rest of the ROH world-at-large. Only then can they truly have the chance to shine in the promotion, with the fans in attendance giving them a chance to impress and deliver.

What would you rather watch—Mitch Franklin vs. Rhett Titus…or Grizzly Redwood vs. "Addicted to Love"? The first pairing would bore me to tears, but the other combination is intriguing. What would happen when a lumberjack fought an alleged sex machine? Or would you rather watch Mikey Bennett vs. Kyle Durden? I'd rather watch Bobby Dempsey vs. Ninja White on the pre-show to the card I attend. Which match would be more fun and more entertaining, more worthy of my spending dollar? I have my answer, and I'm taking the lumberjack, the love guru, big Bobby and the ninja all the way.



ROH Call

ROH Champions—As of 12/13/2008

ROH World Champion—Nigel McGuinness (champion since 10/06/07, 31 successful defenses)
-defeated Takeshi Morishima in Edison, New Jersey to win the championship.

Next Defense: vs. Naomichi Marufuji, Manhattan, NY, 12/27/08

V.1 defeated Jay Briscoe, wristlock submission (10/21/07 San Francisco, CA)
V.2 defeated Chris Hero, wristlock submission (11/02/07 Philadelphia, PA)
V.3 defeated Austin Aries, Jawbreaker Lariat (12/29/07 Manhattan, NY)
V.4 defeated Go Shiozaki, London Dungeon (wristlock submission) (01/20/08 Tokyo, Japan,)
V.5 Steel Cage Match: defeated Chris Hero (01/25/08, Dayton, OH)
V.6 defeated Roderick Strong, Jawbreaker Lariat (01/26/08, Chicago Ridge, IL)
V.7 defeated Bryan Danielson, London Dungeon (02/23/08, Manhattan, NY)
V.8 defeated Tyler Black, London Dungeon (03/16/08, Philadelphia, PA)
V.9 defeated Larry Sweeney, Jawbreaker Lariat (03/22/08 Crystal River, FL)
V.10 defeated Austin Aries, Jawbreaker Lariat (03/29/08 Orlando, FL)
V.11 defeated Erick Stevens, London Dungeon (04/11/08 Boston, MA)
V.12 defeated Kevin Steen, roll up holding the ropes (04/12/08 Edison, NJ)
V.13 defeated Kevin Steen, Jawbreaker Lariat (04/19/08 Chicago Ridge, IL)
V.14 defeated Claudio Castagnoli, London Dungeon, (05/10/08, Manhattan, NY)
V.15 defeated KENTA and BJ Whitmer, Jawbreaker Lariat to Whitmer (05/15/08, Tokyo, Japan)
V.16 defeated Go Shiozaki, London Dungeon (06/07/08, Philadelphia, PA)
V.17 defeated Vic Viper, London Dungeon (06/14/08, Tallaght, Ireland)
V.18 defeated Keith Myatt and Lionheart, (06/20/08, Doncaster, U.K.)
V.19 (title for title) defeated NWA Champion Adam Pearce, Jawbreaker Lariat (06/27/08, Dayton, OH)
*match later reversed via DQ, both men keep their respective titles.
V.20 defeated Kevin Steen, Lariat off Turbuckle, (07/25/08, Toronto, ONT, CN)
V.21 defeated Claudio Castagnoli, Jawbreaker Lariat (07/26/08, Detroit, MI)
V.22 defeated Ruckus, London Dungeon (08/01/08, Manassas, VA)
V.23 Four Way Elimination Match: defeated Bryan Danielson, Tyler Black & Claudio Castagnoli (08/02/08, Manhattan, NY)
V.24 defeated El Generico, London Dungeon (08/15/08, Cleveland, OH )
V.25 defeated Jimmy Jacobs, Jawbreaker Lariat (09/14/08, Tokyo, Japan)
V.26 defeated Roderick Strong, (09/19/08, Boston, MA)
V.27 defeated El Generico, roll up, (09/20/08, Philadelphia, PA)
V.28 Four Way Elimination Match: defeated Go Shiozaki, El Generico & Kevin Steen (11/07/08, Montreal, Quebec, Canada)
V.29 lost via disqualification to Necro Butcher (11/08/08, Markham, Ontario, Canada) Champion retains on a DQ.
V.30 defeated Bryan Danielson, Jawbreaker Lariat (11/22/08, Chicago Ridge, IL)
V. 31 defeated Jerry Lynn, pin using ropes (12/06/08, Nashville, TN)

**

ROH World Tag Team Champions—Kevin Steen & El Generico (champions since 09/19/08, 3 successful defenses)
-defeated The Age of the Fall of Jimmy Jacobs & Tyler Black on September 19th, 2008 in Boston, MA to win the championship.

Next Defense: TBA

V.1 defeated Jay & Mark Briscoe (11/08/08, Markham, Ontario, Canada)
V.2 defeated Jimmy Jacobs & Delirious (11/21/08. Dayton, OH)
V.3 defeated Jay & Mark Briscoe (11/22/08, Chicago Ridge, IL)

**

NWA Worlds Heavyweight Champion: Blue Demon Jr. (since 10/25/2008)
-defeated Adam Pearce via submission with a half crab to win the title.
FIP Heavyweight Champion: Go Shiozaki (since 08/23/2008)
-defeated Erick Stevens via pinfall with help from the Heartbreak Enterprises to win the title.
SHIMMER Champion: MsChif (since 4/26/2008)
-defeated Sara Del Ray via pinfall with the Descrator DDT to win the title
Top of the Class Trophy (for ROH Students): Rhett "Addicted to Love" Titus (since 06/07/2008)
-defeated Ernie Osiris via pinfall to win the trophy.
Sweet & Sour Incorporated Presents The Intergender Heavyweight Tag Team Championship Of The World—Chris Hero & Sara Del Rey (since 01/12/08)

**

Top Feuds & Pairings:

-Bryan Danielson vs. Claudio Castagnoli
-Dissension between Jimmy Jacobs & Tyler Black
-Brent Albright, Roderick Strong & Erick Stevens vs. Sweet & Sour Inc.
-Jerry Lynn runs the contention ladder to an ROH World Title shot
-The Briscoes take on more of a "bad" attitude"

-Daizee Haze wants to save Delirious and restore her name.


ROH News
(via the ROHnewswire… and other sources when attributed)

Major News

Pearce Passes Off Some Booking Roles to Aries, others
According to PWInsider.com's Mike Johnson, Over the last day, ROH booker Adam Pearce has informed the ROH locker room that he would be cutting back on some of his responsibilities as far as being on the road. This is due to family and other obligations. Pearce will still maintain control of the company's booking, but will not attend Friday shows. On these shows Austin Aries will run the locker room. Aries has gained a lot of power under the Pearce booking regime. Pearce will fly in from the west coast for the Saturday shows. Larry Sweeney will now serve as a "liaison" between ROH talent and Pearce, which will help Pearce manage his time better as well as lighten some of the workload.

Pearce also has booking obligations in NWA and being on the West Coast it is more of a hassle harder to get over to the other side of the country. It shows you just how much of a toll booking a company does take out of you, especially when you have family and travel to consider. That Gabe Sapolsky was able to throw himself into booking ROH non-stop for six plus years and FIP for three plus years shows you how much of a workhorse he truly was. I believe the number floated about for booking is that you usually have two good years in you, so Gabe tripled that before the tire treads wore thin.

As to the change, this seems more like one that is more about the communication of the booking rather than conception or execution and thus I really don't expect much of anything to change. There are things called cell phones and the internet that Pearce and Sweeney can talk through as well as any interested party that needs clarification or advice about what to do for an angle. Going back to another one of my bread and butter hobbies, in today's world of comic books you can have a writer, an artist and a colorist on a comic in three different locations and come together to produce some excellent comic books. I'd think the same would be possible for booking wrestling, although yes, in the end there is nothing that can replace hands on experience of being there in person to see your plan through to its actuality.

Update and Award Nominations on "The Wrestler"
"The Wrestler" opens in limited release on December 17th. It will continue to open in different parts of the country later this month and continuing into January. For more information on when the movie might be playing in your area click here: http://content.foxsearchlight.com/inside/node/3041. Ring of Honor is heavily featured in the closing 15 minutes of the film. Earlier today Mickey Rourke earned a Golden Globe nomination for Best Actor. Marisa Tomei earned a nomination for Best Supporting Actress.

I haven't discussed this movie too much, just reporting the bigger news about it from time to time. However, with the movie about to be released and it just keeps building up more and more momentum in the form of positive reviews and movie nominations, it's become clear that this could be THE most important movie about professional wrestling of all time. It actually shocks me to think that Hollywood is so into the story of a broken down professional wrestling. The hype and buzz factor has sold this story as a tale of human drama and some sort of metaphysical reflection on the lead actor's life. Whatever gets this movie to the masses, man. It remains to be seen just how this movie will affect Ring of Honor, but considering the final minutes take place in an ROH ring and the name and website is plastered all over the place, it could be really huge for them if all goes right. Way back at the beginning it seemed that ROH was in a no-lose situation by working with Darren Aronofsky to hold the tapings that became the Double Feature show in March. Now this could become the biggest win of ROH's existence.

Rising Above 2009 Debuts January 16th, 2009
Again, credit to PWInsider: ROH has finished production of Rising Above 2009, which is the next PPV to air from the company and will debut in January. The PPV was actually edited live that night as the show went on, with only some minor work plus the commentary being done after the show was complete. Formerly much of the production would be done in Florida and Gabe Sapolsky would give guidance and lines to the commentators. This time the commentators were left alone to call the show.

This is an interesting but not too major note although I suppose it will be interesting just to see how free Prazak and Leonard felt on the commentary and if there were any significant differences from the way they've commented on shows.

Direct TV On Demand Start Date, Production Upgrades for Final Battle Weekend?
More from PWI:
-The ROH OnDemand service will begin in February on Direct TV.
-There is talk of bringing the upgraded production equipment to Philadelphia and New York City in December, but that is not confirmed at this time. The recent footage from the Chicago PPV that was a part of the most recent newswire was a vast improvement over the old ROH production.

I absolutely think that ROH should bring the upgraded production trucks to the major venues—NYC, Philly, Chicago and Boston. It makes sense to have the best possible video and audio for the biggest PPV and non-PPV shows. It goes to the "pass it on" principle, where someone can show interested and prospective fans the ROH shows in the best possible light. The more shows with the better video and audio production, the more opportunity for fans to spread the word about ROH, as well as give the proof about the kind of quality you could expect on a regular basis.

Match Additions and Subtractions

Philadelphia, PA 12/26/08
Roderick Strong vs. Kensuke Sasaki Rematch: Roderick Strong has faced Kensuke Sasaki before. Now it appears he wants another shot at the legend. "I know I can beat Sasaki", said Strong. "He said he wanted to face the "toughest fighters" that ROH has to offer. Well, he should look no further. He's got the Briscoes in New York, so if he wants a singles match, that's fine. If he and Nakajima want another tag match, that's fine too. Bottom line is that I want another crack at Sasaki in Philadelphia on 12/26." We are awaiting comments from the Kensuke Office.

American Wolves (Davey Richards & Eddie Edwards) vs. ???? vs. ????: Larry Sweeney said that Davey Richards and Eddie Edwards would take the tag team wrestling scene by storm, and it looks like they're setting the stage to do just that. We received a fax this morning at the ROH offices from Sweeney, saying that the "American Wolves" are issuing a challenge for December 26 in Philadelphia. And this challenge isn't for your typical run-of-the-hill tag match. The Wolves apparently aren't satisfied with the prospect of debuting and beating one team – they want two! That's right; the ever arrogant Larry Sweeney is demanding that the American Wolves face TWO teams! The proprietor of Sweet-n-Sour Incorporated stated, "We don't care if it's a gauntlet, we don't care if it's a 3-Way-Dance, the American Wolves are going to show the world what tag team excellence is, and it is going to start in Philadelphia!"

Chris Hero vs. Erick Stevens: : In other Sweet-n-Sour news, a heated grudge match has been signed for Philly on 12/26. "That Young Knockout Kid" Chris Hero will represent sweet-n-Sour and oppose the powerful Erick Stevens one-on-one! Stevens is looking for any reason to beat on a member of Sweet-n-Sour, stemming from the public beatdown and subsequent concussion suffered at the hands of Sweeney's men in Markham, Ontario last month. Hero has stepped to the plate and promised Sweeney that Stevens will eat his vicious elbows, lose, and suffer another head injury on 12/26!

Kenny Omega vs. Rhett Titus: Kenny Omega aims to continue his meteoric rise in ROH during Final Battle Weekend! In Philly on 12/26, he has signed to face "Addicted to Love" Rhett Titus in a singles contest. Titus, completely embarrassed by Daizee Haze and the Necro Butcher in Nashville, is looking to get back on track.

It's interesting to note that the first two announcements leave a lot of blanks to be filled in during the next two weeks. It seems that we could have two separate tag matches, one being Strong and a partner vs. Sasaki and Nakajima, and then the three way with Sweeney's men. Another possibility is that these two match options will be consolidated into one match, with Richards & Edwards vs. Strong and a partner vs. Sasaki & Nakajima. Either way I don't expect a Strong vs. Sasaki singles rematch, as even though it'd be a fine match (they had a solid bout in Japan and Sasaki put over Strong huge post-match) I don't think Strong has a realistic possibility of beating the current GHC Heavyweight Champion in the current context. I think its Morishima vs. Danielson that has been built up for the American junior to defeat the Japanese heavyweight. Hero vs. Stevens is a decent bout, but a bit underwhelming considering it doesn't seem like the best match combination for Hero to "get his". Roderick Strong has yet to get that payback victory against Hero, and I think that's what fans who have followed the Sweet & Sour Inc. feud have been waiting to see happen. Omega vs. Titus is also an underwhelming singles match, more for Omega's placement than for the inclusion of Titus. I like Titus on the card, but I think Omega could have been better placed, perhaps with Tyler Black (to follow up the three way with Danielson from Canada) or against Claudio in Philly and then have Omega be involved in the 4CS in NYC.


Manhattan, NY 12/27/08
Kenny Omega vs. Claudio Castagnoli: Then on 12/27 at the Hammerstein in midtown Manhattan, Omega is certainly facing his biggest challenge, Claudio Castagnoli! Castagnoli has been fuming and is fresh off a No DQ loss to Bryan Danielson. Without question, Claudio is looking for someone to take it out on. Will Omega rise to the occasion? We'll find out in two weeks!

Four Corner Survival: Chris Hero vs. Jerry Lynn vs. Rhett Titus vs. ????: Rhett Titus allegedly came clean last Saturday in Nashville. Daizee Haze confronted Titus in front of the entire audience, and with the help of the Necro Butcher, got "Addicted to Love" to say that everything he'd said about Haze was untrue. That apparently wasn't enough; as Titus went on to exclaim that he was indeed a "virgin". This elicited raucous laughter from those on hand, and left Titus in complete embarrassment. What we have been unable to ascertain is whether Titus only said this under duress as he was facing imminent damage at the hands of Necro, or whether it's actually factual. Regardless, Rhett has entered himself into the Four-Corner-Survival encounter on 12/27 in Manhattan!

Anything Goes Street Fight: Brent Albright, Erick Stevens & Roderick Strong vs. Davey Richards, Eddie Edwards & Go Shiozaki: ROH officials have grown very tired of the repeated rules violations by Sweet-n-Sour. Thus, on 12/27 in New York, the team of Davey Richards, Eddie Edwards, and Go Shiozaki with Larry Sweeney, will face the team of Brent Albright, Erick Stevens, and Roderick Strong in a "Come-As-You-Are New York City Street Fight"! Anything goes in this one, as ROH officials hope that this will be enough to settle the score once and for all!

On the other hand, you have Omega vs. Castagnoli, which is a unique (and first time in ROH) match and could really help to get the young star over in front of a brand new crowd seeing him live for the first time. And on the other hand, Titus in the Four Corner Survival is a bit of an oddity but I'm willing to see how he fits in with the last choice, which has yet to be announced. While I'm also still "holding a grudge" for not having the Steel Cage Warfare match coming to NYC, I like the six man tag match and am looking forward to seeing the unofficial New No Remorse Corps face off against Sweet & Sour Inc. It's going to be a nice brawl and a good change of style for a show packed with marquee attraction matches.


Manassas, VA 01/16/08: ROH officials are happy to announce that the Mid-Atlantic region will be well represented in January! We'll welcome Damien Wayne, Sean Denny, and Chris Escobar to Manassas, VA on 1/16 and in Edison, NJ on 1/17.

Wayne and Denny are the regular local talent used by ROH in the Virginia region, so it's no surprise to see them booked again. I haven't been all that impressed by either of them as far as in-ring performances on these shows, but you never know when something might click and work. Hopefully this time will be that time for these guys.


Character Developments

-immy Jacobs downplayed the speculation that there is any dissention in ranks of the Age of the Fall. Several days ago, Kevin Steen, El Generico, and the Necro Butcher issued a challenge to the Briscoes and a member of the AOTF for a 6-Man-Tag team match. This challenge fell on seemingly deaf ears as Jacobs, ever the master of the mind game, rebuffed the challenge. He stated he'd never put himself or any of his compatriots in cahoots with the Briscoes, no matter who they'd be facing. Now we've come to learn that Jacobs has petitioned ROH officials for a Tag Team Title re-match, claiming that the involvement of Rhett Titus gave Steen and Generico an unfair advantage in Dayton last month, costing the AOTF the World Tag Team Titles. Meanwhile, Steen, Generico, and Necro still want their 6-Man-Tag Team Match. We hope to have comments from the ROH Booking Committee before the end of the week.

-As seen in the most recent ROH videowire http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4BIM4MjwxyY, Austin Aries has officially challenged Tyler Black to a rematch after falling to him in Collinsville last weekend. Tyler Black has stated that he should be in line for an ROH World Title shot be virtue of his win. Aries is also making that claim as he defeated Tyler Black and ROH World Champion, Nigel McGuinness, in Dayton's 3-Way-Dance on 11/21. If McGuinness hadn't refused to defend the belt that night, Aries would be the first Two-Time World Champion in ROH history. The ROH Booking Committee is looking at this situation very closely to determine what course of action is appropriate.

-In a disgusting display from Saturday in Nashville, ROH World Champion, Nigel McGuinness sunk to a new low after Jerry Lynn took him to the limit in their championship match. McGuinness, who retained the title after blatantly using leverage from the ropes, took the microphone in what seemed at first to be a genuine gesture of respect toward the veteran Lynn. That perception quickly turned into a huge display of arrogance and utter disrespect as McGuinness insulted Lynn's background, age, and anything else that came to mind, emphatically stating that Lynn "never-made-it", "never-had-it", and that "the boys in the back are laughing at him". Lynn, who has held championship gold several times in his career, was visibly shaken by the words, as the Nashville faithful peppered Nigel with trash from ringside. ROH Video crews captured a heated display from Lynn, who erupted in the locker room area post match. We hope to have that footage available as soon as possible. Lynn was unavailable for comment as this went to press.

-ROH Ringside Timekeeper, Giuseppe di Lorento, has filed a formal complaint against Ernie Osiris, stating that he found Osiris rifling through his belongings during the 12/6 event in Nashville. Among the allegedly stolen items are one Brown Argyle sock, a half-used Tube of Mustache Wax, and loose cash totaling $7.38. Osiris, unsuccessful in his bout that night and recently seen panhandling, denies taking anything and refused further comment.

Kayfabe Quote of the Week: "That's a very simple answer, sir. I felt that I needed to repay the favor. Bryan went out of his way to save me. I know he's has a violent rivalry with Claudio and he probably went out of his way more to foil Claudio's attempt to cave in someone's head, but what he did was very noble and respectful. During the main event, I was watching the monitor in the back and saw what Claudio did to cost Bryan the World Championship. I felt like I owed it Bryan to go out there and put him back into that ring. He saved me, and I felt that it was the right thing to do. So I ran down to the aisle and threw Bryan back into the match so he'd have a fighting chance at recapturing the ROH World Championship rather than being counted out.

If Nigel would have came after me, I'd take my licks because he is a bigger guy and the World Champ, but he's the one that would have to deal with getting disqualified and giving away a victory to Bryan. You see, I wasn't going to hit him because that'd cost Bryan the championship. So like I said, he'd have to live with giving up a win to Bryan." --Alex "Sugarfoot" Payne


ROH Home Theatre Station

ROH Videowire: December 10th, 2008





1. The Miz and John Morrison: The first and the best acceptance speech of the whole WWE Slammy Award ceremony. From unmercifully mocking Festus to the enthusiasm for winning fake awards to the ultimate topper (sorry Punk) of going all "Bababooey", these two earned every bit of those tin trophies.
2. CM Punk: One of my personal favorites once again makes the weekly favorite list. Punk sneaking in references to Volk Han as well as using Ace Steel's real name and Colt Cabana's WWE name in his list of thank you's on a live Raw was amazing…and awesome to see happen—I knew he was going to try to do something of that nature and he got it through.
3.Bryan Danielson & Jerry Lynn: I'm a mark for old school babyface "respect" promos, and the one that both of them did was an excellent example of one (see the video wire). They got over that it is still possible in ROH to have two opponents not only following the code of honor and wanting to fight not out of a grudge but out of desire for competition. Lynn and McGuinness were able to be in the same place at the same time and not have the knowledge that they were going to fight blow up between the two. The sit down nature of their promo also reminded me of the Cactus Jack and Terry Funk promos a decade back where both reminisced about their friendship while knowing they were soon to be going to battle against one another. Sometimes it's just cool to see two wrestlers hanging out and talking conversationally.
4. Christopher Daniels: He's not even back yet as "The Fallen Angel" character, but I am so ready to have him back the way he once was. Daniels fighting for The Frontline may actually be enough to get me to start watching TNA again. MAYBE.
5.The Great Khali: Planted the kiss that didn't miss on Mickie James. Yes, that whole segment was horrible, but props to him for getting a long kiss goodnight from Ms. James.


We'll continue with Part Two of the column right here!